Councilor Felix Arroyo Explains Chuck Turner Vote

BOSTON – The “power” to decide a politician’s fate says City Councilor At-Large Felix G. Arroyo ultimately rests with the people who live in that politician’s district. In a brief phone conversation with Open Media Boston this past Friday evening City Councilor At-Large Felix Arroyo said he believes a Council member convicted of a felony should have to start over; in other words leave office and face the public in an election. Questioned by Open Media Boston as to whether or not he would advocate accomplishing this change by placing explicit language in the Council’s bylaws Arroyo said he believes “it should be a matter of policy.” Members facing such circumstances he said should be required to run for office in order to retain their seat. He explained this as the reason why he did not abstain from voting on the order – voting “present” instead of yes or no as activists and supporters of Chuck Turner were hoping. Arroyo acknowledged the historic nature of the current situation and an apparent need to evaluate Council rules going forward. In October Turner was convicted by a jury in federal district court of taking a bribe and lying to federal authorities. On Wednesday Arroyo joined ten of his colleagues in support of an order expelling District 7 Councilor Turner from the Council. District 4 Councilor Charles Yancey was the only member to oppose Turner’s expulsion. Turner himself was not allowed to vote on the order. Turner 70 – who overwhelmingly won victory in his district last year while under indictment for bribery - has said he is not interested in running during a special election to fill his vacant seat that must be held within four months. In fact Turner has said he will help organize other convicts if sentenced to prison by a federal judge in January. Besides Council President Michael Ross who chaired Wednesday’s special hearing to decide Chuck Turner’s fate on the Council and Charles Yancey who argued several points of parliamentary process Arroyo was one of only two other members to speak. At-Large Councilor Ayanna Pressley also rose to praise Turner’s integrity but said nonetheless she would vote for expulsion. Arroyo and Pressley were booed by spectators who were there to support Councilor Turner. A few others in the council gallery applauded their comments. Councilor Arroyo said he understands his vote on the expulsion order – as historic as it is – will be long remembered by some of his constituents. He expressed hope that voters would remember all of his votes on the council. During the special hearing Arroyo 31 said he was saddened that he would not be able to serve the remainder of his term alongside his "friend and colleague." Noting that “Turner was convicted of the worst crime a politician can commit ” Arroyo did not state explicitly which way he would vote at that time. On Friday Arroyo noted that members only have three minutes to comment on orders before the board and “regretted” not having more time to explain his vote to support the order expelling Chuck Turner from the Council. His objective he added was “to pay tribute to Chuck.” According to the Council’s rules posted on the City website “a member may speak upon a matter for no more than ten minutes [emphasis added] except as further limited by the provisions of this rule.” The rule goes on to limit member’s comments to three minutes “at the time a petition order or resolution has been admitted and assigned to a committee for review…” Interestingly debate over whether or not the Council should be allowed to vote on Turner’s status during the same hearing the order was introduced was cut off when Michael Ross explained that city attorney William Sinnott had determined that members could vote without taking days to deliberate because the order in fact was not being assigned to committee. Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley has not yet responded to a request from Open Media Boston to explain the reasons behind her vote. Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati